Kerala's Investment Promotion Task Force firms up plans to attract major investments

The Special Investment Promotion Task Force set up by the Kerala Government met on Thursday and decided to work out a time-bound action plan to position the state as a major investment destination and also attract foreign investors who wish to relocate manufacturing bases to the state post the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Task Force held its first meeting here today under the chairmanship of Dr Vishwas Mehta to formulate a conducive action plan to create a promising and enduring investment climate in the state.

It was attended by all the 23 members of the task force.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had recently constituted the task force amidst the pandemic to showcase Kerala as a preferred destination for investments in India with unique offerings in focus sectors of life sciences and healthcare, agro and food processing, urban infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, etc.

The primary objective of the task force is to showcase the state's unique advantages to the global audience and build an investor-friendly ecosystem that would follow a "collaborative" and "investor first" approach to make "investing in Kerala simpler, faster and friendlier".

The discussions centred on sectors that Kerala must focus on to build a unique brand for investments globally.

The members emphasised the need to change the current perception about the state, simplifying land acquisition process, building a comprehensive industry-academia collaboration, job creation, gaining self-sufficiency by transforming Kerala from a consumer economy to a manufacturing economy, improving health and social infrastructure by promoting 'Make in Kerala' initiative.

The participants also suggested improving the state's online single-window clearance mechsm KSWIFT, encouraging wage subsidy incentives and promoting sectors through exclusive sector-specific industrial parks and townships.

( With inputs from ANI )